In U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 441,109 filed on Nov. 12, 1982, Ser. No. 443,608 filed on Nov. 22, 1982 and Ser. No. 450,531 filed on Dec. 17, 1982, all commonly-assigned herewith, a tamper-indicating system is disclosed wherein a cap or other closure member for a container is equipped with interior means movable with the cap and adapted to secure a telltale to the cap for movement therewith. Such movable means selectively tear the telltale, i.e., when it is further secured to the container, thereby to render visible through the cap an indication advising the container purchaser if effort had theretofore been made to remove the cap from secured relation to the container.
In preferred arrangement, one such system includes a tine or tines depending from the cap upper interior surface and comprising such means movable with cap and the tines are resident in a foam layer of a multilayer telltale indicator also including a foil layer through which the tines also extend and an underlayer of dense paper, such paper underlayer being in sealing relation to the container access port. The paper layer includes a tamper-indicating indicium on its surface in facing relation to the foam layer and the paper layer integrity is unaffected by the tines as they move with the cap opening sense movement to tear the foam and render the indicium visible. Typically, the foam is of white color and the indicium is of red color and the cap opening sense movement gives rise to an increasingly displayed red warning in the white background for indicating initial opening of the container.
In other embodiments, the telltale indicator may comprise a single layer of sheet material which is piercingly engaged by the tines and securable to the container access port, again to be torn upon opening sense cap movement.